In the Spirit…Merry Christmas

Just a few snapshots to "feel" the spirit of Christmas for the children.

You may recall this Christmas I sent out in '07…

It was just one of those priceless snapshots that turned into the best annual Christmas card.

Over the years I have had a lot of stress during the Holidays. One year I found myself driving around on Christmas Eve trying to find a tree I could afford. Another year, late Christmas Eve shopping at Wal-Mart with a gazillion other parents with some found cash to spend.
Some years I had to sell gold for cash…but as a young child, my daughter never knew.

And no matter how few presents she had from me, Santa ALWAYS took care of her.

Tis the Holiday Season...

Who am I kidding…it's the CHRISTMAS season!
I am quite frankly tired of being politically correct…'scuze me but what politician tells me what to say about any given holiday?

A lot has been going on…outside of my home and blog, of course.
Still dealing with mom's health issues, although she is better. Just a few setbacks here and there.
My camera and laptop are not communicating still! This has been a struggle for me.
I am mentally exhausted from the "day" job…not that it's bad, just draining.

I did want to take a moment to wish all of my followers a very Merry Christmas and a joyous, healthy New Year. I appreciate all the comments you have left over the past year, whether it be cracking a joke (love those at my expense) or a compliment on a piece of artwork. I know the art isn't published as often as I would like…some nites it's all I can do to get through the (totally illegal, but I didn't do it) DVD of the latest Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 1 ! (oy vey, I'm head over heels about cold, hard and sparkly things!)

Meanwhile back at the business side…here is the latest and greatest special from Close To My Heart!

From NOW until Jan. 31st, when you place a $25 minimum order from the Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book, you get TWO valuable new products for just $15: the My Creations Collage Cubes  and the EXCLUSIVE "Rock the Block" E-size stamp set (available only during this promotion and a $29.95 value). 
That's over a $45 value for only $15 bucks!

I recently received mine and can't wait to make a sample to show off here (after the current project I'm working on…)
And with the Rockin' Stamp of the Month promotion, don't forget that if you spend $50, you also qualify for the awesome December Stamp of the Month set (Mad About You) for only $5 !!!! 

December Blog Hop-Roxie

Happy December! What?! Did someone say DECEMBER?! Don't even get me started on how the months have just (pa-chew) flown by!

If you have arrived from Pam's Blog you're on the right hop!
This month we are featuring the Roxie Paper Kit. I love this kit and have made many projects with it. The great thing about these papers is they just go so well with any theme, whether girlie-girlie, fun and funky or masculine. You just can't go wrong with Roxie!

Since I was outta mah mind last month and couldn't cough up any samples for the Believe Hop,you will benefit now with multiple Roxie projects! 

Lucky you!(or ehm…maybe not depending on if you like them or not!)

Favorite peeps from High School and our first (of many) get together in 30 years!

Someone really had to talk me out of this one… some co-workers bought it from me for their Sup…and I really like her, so it wasn't too hard to let go…

THIS was a super something special from my trip to Anaheim for our Annual Convention.

Each year, I'm able to go is more special than the last…and as you can see, we were ALL smiles!

Using the Memory Cube Game (nim-nut name) but it can be many things…12 days of Christmas, chore charts, etc.

I took that up a notch:

Please continue your "hoppin'" and bounce on over to Connie's Blog!

Don't forget to hop on over to my website to order any of these fabulous products!

Stay Tuned...

Until THIS has run the course and is imbedded in my brain…

I will be an absent blogger!

To All of Our Veterans…Near/Far, Fallen/Here, Still Serving/Last Tour

I salute you.
I thank you.
I am eternally grateful.
I hold your families close to my heart.
I can say, pray and do as I please because of your sacrifices.

Rock-it-Babeeee!

Get ready to Rock the Block with our fabulous December/January Constant Campaign! Place a minimum order of $25 from the Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book and get two new products for just $15: the My Creations® Collage Cubes (a Spring/Summer 2012 sneak-peek product!) and the exclusive My Acrylix® Rock the Block E-size stamp set (available only during this promotion). That’s a retail savings of almost $30! You’re going to love how the collage cubes and the Rock the Block stamp set work together for interactive, 3-D fun; it’s a perfect way to celebrate National Papercrafting Month in January! More details and samples coming soon!

November Blog Hop…Dream On!

Never thought I would meet someone so famous who has been around for so long.
Not that I was always Dreamin' about Randy Travis in particular, but it was pretty cool to work with his team of security and help out at the Old Sugar Mill Concerts.

If you got here from Lynne's Blog, you on the right circuit!

So for our monthly Blog Hop, I really like using the Dreamin' Paper pack from CTMH.
It's simple, but I really liked the colors of the papers that pulled the colors of the event and area, too!

(I'm working to improve the photos the next night I'm actually home…the camera and I have not been friends lately!)

Hop on over to Betsy's Blog to see her fabulous artwork!
(scroll down past the Blog Hop to see some fabulous Studio J layouts featuring yours truly!)

Sorry I haven't posted in a while…I haven't slept in the same bed two nites in a row since the end of September. My mom (yea, the Chicken Lady) had a series of health issues that were downright scary and that could only happen to her. Odd that after surviving Breast Cancer and Lung Cancer, something weird like a Fungus infection invaded her chest and built condos and shopping malls in there!
She's on the mend, but it will be a while before I am back to normal blogging and she's back to 100%…thanks for your patience and faithfulness.

Holiday Wishes…YES! Early!

Yeppers, all your holiday dreams and wishes CAN come true…a bit early!
When you place a minimum order of $25 in My Acrylix^® stamp sets in November (and also beginning Oct. 27), you can purchase a new D-size Holiday Wishes stamp set for only $5! That’s huge savings off the retail value of $17.95. Icing on the cookies,  many of the images in the set coordinate with our Cricut^® Art Philosophy cartridge for added cutting and stamping awesomeness!

Head on over to my website and take advantage of ALL the specials…including joining the Team Keys to the Heart for only $99 bucks!


Stay tuned for the next Blog Hop, too!

It's That Time of Year Again….

I'd like to say this was my birthday/BC Survivor Anniversary cake, it suites me so well...

But it wasn't.
If I go buy myself one, it will probably be more like this:

and that's the way life has been for me lately...

Blog Hop Coming Here Soon!

Check back tonite for my details, meanwhile check out the rest of the Bloghoppers for some fabulous artwork you won't "Believe" !

Start here:

Karen

Chirp, Ditto, Chirp!

Just in case you've never visited our founder of Close To My Heart Jeanette Lynton's Blog (the link is to the right down the page), she recently put out a Q&A for anyone to submit their inquiring mind-type questions…well I did…and she answered!

See, after attending years and years of events put on by CTMH, I wanted to know that with the Cricut phenomenon, if our Corp office staffers still hand cut hundreds of thousands of pieces of papers and cardstock for our hands-one projects!
(personally I love using my Bug to cut me a whole sheet of 2 x 2 squares!)

She never really addressed that part of the question, but she did give us all some insight on how much of a CTMH purist she is or if she ever delved into the "other" side of craft tools!

Check out her response by clicking here

'Nuff Said...

Absentee Blogger...

To my few faithful, I do apologize for my absence…many things have attributed.
We had a wedding and the loss of a loved one.

The wedding was celebrating the union of one of my nieces. It was a TOMS supported affair and you know how I love my TOMS and their purpose.

Here's a photo I posted to the TOMS gallery of all the guests who attended wearing TOMS

Love this shot of Haley and our great-niece's TOMS…

It wasn't just a TOMS affair, it was truly a family affair:

I did the photo guest book

My brother and sister in law provided the cake and food

The Bride made her own cake topper!

The Groom's mother choreographed the first dance…and her family made the traditional Persian Wedding table….

 The Bride's sister planned, decorated and provided the flower girl….

 Love you Monica and Jim!

Then we got the call….come to Wyoming... now.
Haley and I packed up Sparkles the day after the wedding and headed out. 15.5 hours later we arrive at our in-laws home. We said good-bye to my mother-in-law two days later.
She was an amazing woman. There isn't enough room here to post all her attributes.
I always wanted to be her when I grew up.
She had thousands of organized photo albums and some scrapbook supplies from her 84 years so it was not a difficult task to make her a special Memory Board for the service.
I hope it made her proud.

 It was the first time in about 14 yrs. that all six kids were together, from New York, Idaho and California.

I was glad to be there for her and Pop.

"S" is for September and Sonoma…BLOG HOP!

It's September (somewhere!) and this month our Blog Hop is featuring the beautiful papers called Sonoma.
If you arrived here from Betsy's Blog you've come to the right place!

 And here is project number 2 actually!

I used a plethoria of new and well loved older products along with the new papers.
The colors are Smokey Plum, Amethyst, Olive and Desert Sand. ( I also cheated and used some retired Pansy Purple because my Plum was almost black, blea)

I even was able to steal a flower from the Art Philosophy cricut cartridge from Anne (my longtime friend/team member) and used our re-inkers and Pearl paint to give it some color.
Here's a layout I had done first about Brides using the Sonoma WOTG.

I didn't want to do a layout for each wedding (I missed Tracy's) so this was my tribute to all my Bride's recently.
Keep an eye on the horizon as my niece is getting married this Saturday and I am looking forward to doing her Guest/Photo Album and will share pictures when it's done.

Now for goodness sake, hop on over to Vicki's Blog and see what magical things she's made, too!

New Papers and fun things!

Don't forget to take advantage of the GREAT special this month ending 8/31/11. For more info following this post then head over to my website to order yours!

And now some New Papers:
You'll be surprised by this kit called Roxie…fun, and funky!
And if you look carefully, you'll see the newly designed heavier, DUAL sided Background Papers from Close to My Heart!

And here's some fun and funky things you can make with it!

Finally some artwork using the same papers from our Convention in Anaheim last month…

Gone "bug"gee…with the new Cricut Cartridge (again!) OPEN HOUSE

and just in case you like to "see" things more clearly before you buy…here are ALL the images from the new Art Philosphy exclusive Cricut Cartridge from Close to My Heart.

 and don't forget that you can come see this and all the other new fabulous products from the Autumn/Winter Idea Book at our Open House
Sunday August 21st from 2:00 until 5:30pm.
Demonstrations and Make n Takes on-going through the day!
Email me for more info and to RSVP
It's FREE! but please do RSVP so we can have ample supplies ready.